JNCIA: Juniper Networks Certified Internet Associate Study Guide

Joseph M. Soricelli | John L. Hammond | Galina Diker Pildush | Thomas E. Van Meter | Todd Warble

1 Great Study Guide
I highly recommend this book as a review for the associates exam. I hadn't touched a Juniper in two years this study guide got me through recertification.

2 Good book - Helps alot with the exam
The book does a good job at preparation for the JNCIA exam. It goes over each topic well, and gives some good real world examples that make sense. Be prepared though, this is not a CCNA type exam that asks you theory and questions that do not apply to real life (ie. classful routing). This book (and exam) do concentrate on operational aspects, so the book does a good job at introducing CLI commands and the JunOS CLI architecture. It is recommended that you get ahold of a Juniper box to play around in to get the hang of things.

I have to disagree with the authors writing about the BGP architecture on the Internet, though. To state that only Tier 1 ISP's connect at exchange points (atleast how it was depicted in a drawing) is completely wrong. And usage of the Tier1/Tier2/Tier3 names should not be used in todays internet. Today plenty of people are paying for peering from some of the larger networks out there to give themselves the image of "Tier 1". It seems perhaps the authors should be more aware of real ISP operations in respects to how peering is actually done on the Internet today (ie. read the peering playbook by Bill Norton).

3 JNCIA: Juniper Networks Certified Internet Associate Study G
This is a great book! It will not give you the test questions and answers for the test. What it will provide is a great source of information relating to routing and an introduction to Juniper's routers. The depth of information in Juniper Networks Certified Internet Associate Study Guide is sufficient to pass the test. The questions in the book and on the CD require the same level of understanding as the actual JNCIA exam. In fact I scored the same on the bonus exams (located on the CD) as I did on the actual test. I have been working with Cisco equipment for over eight year and with Juniper routers for a little over a year. I have my CCNP and CCDP. With my background, this book and three weeks, now I have my JNCIA certification. Don't take the JNCIA certification test lightly. I would rate it at the same level as the CCNP and CCDP. With this book and some time you should be able to pass the exam.

4 JNCIA - An overview
I'm gearing up for the JNCIA/S exams, so have just bought the JNCIA book.
In addition, I have the Complete reference too.

As a history thing, I haven't been that impressed with Sybex revision books - mainly from a Cisco perspective.
This book however seems to be a step away from the norm - which is quite refreshing.

A CD is included (like all the similar Cisco Press books for CCNA/CCDA/CCNP/CCDP).
You get flash cards, 100's of exam questions, study guides, a palm/pocketPC revision app & the bonus of a pdf covering the entire book (aka Cisco) !

At the front of the book is a detachable pull-out study guide which recommends reading certain chapters for different parts of the exam.
When quizzed, the author certainly wasnt denying the fact that it could almost be a hint at what you will be tested on.

Book is split into sections (naturally) which run through the following;

Chapter 1: The Components of a Juniper Networks Router
Chapter 2: Interfaces
Chapter 3: Protocol-Independent Routing
Chapter 4: Routing Policy
Chapter 5: The Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
Chapter 6: Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
Chapter 7: Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS)
Chapter 8: Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
Chapter 9: Multicast
Chapter 10: Firewall Filters
Chapter 11: Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)

Differences between the JNCIA and the Complete ref are;

JNCIA has multicast.
JNCIA has CD.
Complete ref has a lot more about the 'boxes'.
Complete ref has intro to VPN (but not much).
Complete ref is a lot heavier.
Complete ref has more configuration examples.

If you're thinking of revising (and if you haven't got the complete ref) then this is the book to go for.
Combine this with Routing TCP/IP, a glance through the most excellent Juniper tech pdf's, hands-on the box and the Boson software exam guides ..... you should breeze through..

On the whole I am impressed with the book.
Its straight to the point, tells you what you need to learn to pass the exam, splits it into attainable sections then tests your knowledge on what you've learnt.